Harvey Gantt
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Harvey Bernard Gantt (born 1943 in Charleston, South Carolina) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina.[1] He was Mayor of Charlotte from 1983 to 1987, and ran twice for the United States Senate.
In 1963, he was the first African American to be admitted to Clemson University in South Carolina, the last state to hold out to racial integration.[citation needed] He received a degree in architecture with Honors from Clemson and a Master's degree in City Planning from MIT.[citation needed]
From 1974 until 1983, Gantt served on the Charlotte City Council. He was then elected and re-elected as the first African-American mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina,[citation needed] serving in that position from 1983 to 1987. A Democrat, he staged two unsuccessful U.S. Senatorial campaigns against Republican Jesse Helms in 1990 and in 1996, around which time Republican Party operatives came forward as having worked within the Democratic Party of North Carolina, reported in Raleigh's News & Observer.[citation needed] The Helms' campaign then used well-crafted TV ads against affirmative action, which opponents continue to claim were racist or racially-motivated.[citation needed]
He manages a successful architectural practice, Gantt Huberman Architects, and remains active in politics, having served on the North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Council, the Democratic National Committee, and the National Capital Planning Commission.
His daughter, Sonja Gantt, is a news anchor at WCNC-TV in Charlotte.
[edit] References
- ^ Eisiminger, Skip, editor, "Integration with Dignity", Clemson University Digital Press, Clemson, South Carolina, 2003, ISBN 0-9741516-1-0, page 2.
[edit] External links
- News & Observer biography
- City of Charlotte biography
- SC African American History
- Harvey Gantt and the Desegregation of Clemson University
- Oral History Interview with Harvey B. Gantt at Oral Histories of the American South
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eddie Knox (D) |
Mayor of Charlotte, NC 1983 – 1987 |
Succeeded by Sue Myrick (R) |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jim Hunt |
Democratic Party nominee for United States Senator from North Carolina (Class 2) 1990 (lost) and 1996 (lost) |
Succeeded by Erskine Bowles |
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